Chapter 673: The Truth (Begging for Full Subscription!)

The moment those words came out, everyone on the scene felt their hearts leap into their throats.

Park In-yong's expression was extremely ugly. He knew the truth of the matter, and he also knew that if this truth were discovered, he would be in serious trouble. If these things were investigated, his death would likely be imminent.

Turning his head to look at the old man, Park In-yong's gaze was filled entirely with questioning:

"Are you all really not going to do anything?"

But that old man just stood there, looking as if it had nothing to do with him.

Seeing the other party looking so confident and assured, Park In-yong felt helpless and could only watch quietly.

The corpse was quickly turned over, the outer garment removed, and everyone could see the wounds on Park Jeong-yang's body. There were five wounds on his back, all caused by crossbow bolts. One look made it clear — these were not knife wounds at all.

The truth was out.

Park Jeong-yang had not committed suicide at all, nor had he stabbed himself five times in the back. Rather, he had been shot five times in the back with crossbow bolts, killed on the spot.

This was not suicide — it was murder.

Everyone drew in a sharp breath of cold air and turned to look at Park In-yong.

The most suspicious person present was this nephew of his. After all, under such circumstances, Park In-yong still claimed his uncle had committed suicide — how could that possibly be?

If you said there was nothing fishy going on, no one would believe it.

Jeong Xuhong's expression also darkened, but at the same time he breathed a sigh of relief.

He had not betrayed the King's trust; he had found this piece of evidence. With things having reached this point, it would be much easier to handle — after all, the corpse was still there.

A question could not help but arise in Zheng Xuhong's mind: why was it said that Park Jeong-yang had been murdered?

Such wounds were very obvious; anyone in the world could see at a glance that there was something wrong. If Park In-yong had done it, why hadn't he destroyed the corpse and erased the evidence?

Destroying the corpse and eliminating the evidence would have been the optimal choice. Why, in this situation, had he left such a huge flaw behind?

But Zheng Xuhong didn't care about any of that. Since you left a flaw, then I will definitely seize upon it.

He turned back to look at Park In-yong and said with a stern face: "Park In-yong, explain yourself. What exactly is going on here? How did your uncle get those wounds on his back? Can you not see that he was murdered? Why did you claim it was suicide?"

Park In-yong's face was extremely ugly, and he collapsed directly to the ground.

"I... I..." Park In-yong opened his mouth but could not form words.

He did not dare speak the truth — speaking it would also mean death. But in his heart he was terrified beyond measure; his original arrogance had long since vanished.

"Men, seize him." Zheng Xuhong pointed at Park In-yong and said loudly.

He had seen many people like Park In-yong. This was clearly not a man of iron will. Take him back, beat him, interrogate him, and he would probably spill everything — the truth would then be clear.

"Don't come near me!" Park In-yong retreated in terror, shouting loudly.

But no one paid him any heed. Zheng Xuhong's men pounced on him directly, not giving him any chance, and dragged him away.

Zheng Xuhong said: "Find a place — I want to conduct an interrogation. And a few more men, come with me to search Park In-yong's room."

"Yes." Someone acknowledged and set about the task.

The onlookers around were deeply shocked, but even more excited. They had indeed not come in vain today — there really was a show to watch. If they hadn't come, they would have truly missed out.

Park In-yong was taken into custody, and the search operation proceeded very quickly.

"My lord, we found a secret letter." Suddenly someone ran over to report, holding a secret letter in his hand, his face brimming with excitement.

This was a chance to earn merit. If this letter contained any important evidence, then the credit would be very substantial.

"Bring it over, let me see." Zheng Xuhong was also excited and said hurriedly.

The subordinate dared not delay and quickly brought the letter over, handing it directly to Zheng Xuhong.

Taking the letter and tearing it open, Zheng Xuhong read it quickly.

But the next second, his expression changed drastically. He turned his head to look at Park In-yong not far away, his face so dark it looked like water was about to drip from it.

The contents of the letter were simply too shocking — he could hardly believe it.

Zheng Xuhong's mood was terrible. After a moment of deliberation, he said: "Take Park In-yong away and lock him up. I must go to the palace immediately to see the King. All of you stay here and do not move."

Having said this, Zheng Xuhong paid no heed to anything else and turned to run toward the royal palace.

Everyone at the scene was stunned. No one had expected that this letter would cause such a dramatic turn of events. Zheng Xuhong wasn't even interrogating Park In-yong, but was running straight to the palace?

This made everyone even more curious — what exactly was written in that letter?

Everyone exchanged bewildered glances, but they could not move and could only wait quietly there for news.

Zheng Xuhong galloped his horse at full speed to the royal palace. After being announced, he rushed all the way to the Joseon King's bedchamber.

Upon seeing the Joseon King, Zheng Xuhong said: "Your Majesty, your servant pays his respects."

"What has happened?" The Joseon King looked at the visibly anxious Zheng Xuhong and asked with a somewhat surprised expression.

"The matter Your Majesty ordered your servant to investigate has been confirmed. Lord Park Jeong-yang was indeed not a suicide. Your servant discovered five crossbow bolt wounds on his back. Those were not knife wounds — Lord Park Jeong-yang was shot five times from behind and died from it."

"Is that so?" The Joseon King stood up with an excited expression and asked: "Who did it?"

"The first person your servant suspected was Lord Park's nephew, Park In-yong. While searching his room, a letter was found. Please, Your Majesty, take a look." Zheng Xuhong said with a somewhat pale face.

"Ah? Bring it up." The Joseon King nodded and said.

The letter quickly reached the Joseon King's hands.

After tearing it open and glancing at it, the Joseon King's expression changed. He then stood up and said: "Who is this? Who did this?"

Zheng Xuhong's face was pale, and he stood to the side without speaking.

He truly did not dare speak. The contents of that letter were far too shocking and outrageous. Who had written the letter, no one knew — because there was no signature on it — but the contents within were terrifying.

The contents were simple, actually — it was an instruction for Park In-yong to kill Park Jeong-yang.

If Park In-yong killed Park Jeong-yang, everything belonging to the Park family would be his, and he would also be given high office and generous emoluments. The letter also stated very clearly that as long as this deed was done, there would be no problem. Regardless of the method used, in the end all he had to say was that it was suicide. No one would suspect, and no one would investigate — someone could smooth this matter over. Moreover, the official position and salary promised were very high, even allowing him to succeed to Park Jeong-yang's position.

"Who has seen this letter?" The Joseon King looked at Zheng Xuhong with a grim face and asked.

"To answer Your Majesty, no one has seen it. After it was found, only I alone read it, and then I hurried to the palace." Zheng Xuhong said quickly.

The handwriting on this letter — Zheng Xuhong recognized it. Although there was no signature on it, one look at the handwriting made it clear who had written it.

That person was Zhang Fu — a very ordinary name, but many people in Joseon knew him.

Zhang Fu was a member of the Zhang family, one of the old-line proper families of Joseon. But Zhang Fu himself was a bona fide member of the young progressive faction—in plain terms, the Korean king's man.

If this letter were exposed, the conclusion would be that the Korean king's man instigated Park In-yong to kill Park Jeong-yang.

"Go and bring Zhang Fu here." The Korean king said with a grim face.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Zheng Xuhong said hastily, then turned and walked out.

This matter was very difficult. Whether for the king or for himself, if Zhang Fu were handed over, that would be equivalent to going head-to-head with the elders faction, and the situation might spiral completely out of control.

The young progressive faction would also have problems, after all, Zhang Fu had acted for the king.

There would also be another interpretation—that this was itself the king's intention, merely carried out through Zhang Fu's hands. After the deed was done, the king disposed of Zhang Fu as well.

The Korean king's thoughts were in chaos, and for a moment he didn't know what to do.

At this time, at the Park residence.

Park In-yong was held under guard, his expression very ugly.

He knew he was finished—everything was finished. This time he probably couldn't even save his own life. No, he had to find a way to save himself!

Park In-yong turned his head to look at that old man; he still hadn't moved.

Park In-yong couldn't help but curse inwardly: What are you doing? Have you gone mad? Still no action at a time like this?

Park In-yong gnashed his teeth in hatred. If you show no mercy, don't blame me for being unjust in return!

Just as he was about to do something, he suddenly felt a cramping pain in his abdomen. He tried to open his mouth to speak, but no words would come out—the moment he opened his mouth, he spat out a mouthful of bloody foam.

This scene stunned everyone; no one had expected it.

The guard watching Park In-yong rushed over and shouted loudly: "What's wrong? What's wrong with you?"

But it was already too late.

Park In-yong sprayed out a mouthful of fresh blood, then his eyes rolled back and he collapsed directly to the ground. His legs twitched, his breath was as thin as a thread—clearly he wouldn't survive.

"Someone, someone! Quick, someone! Go find a physician!" The guards shouted noisily, calling for someone to fetch a physician.

When the physician arrived, he went straight to Park In-yong's side, checked his breathing, felt his pulse, and shook his head helplessly, saying: "It's too late."

Park In-yong was dead?!

Chaos immediately erupted all around, causing an uproar. No one had imagined that Park In-yong would die right before everyone's eyes, and die so bizarrely at that.

What on earth was going on? Were they in danger?

Everyone's faces changed drastically, and they instinctively wanted to run outside.

But how would those guards dare let anyone leave? Things had already become so terrible that they couldn't even explain themselves clearly if they went back. The criminal suspect had died so inexplicably—their culpability was enormous.

They shouted and blocked everyone's path, saying loudly: "No one is allowed to leave!"

At this moment, these men's eyes were red, their blades were drawn, their faces were ferocious, with an air of "anyone who comes near, we'll fight to the death"—which naturally intimidated everyone.

Although the people present had very ugly expressions, they all retreated.

The head guard went directly to the physician's side and asked: "How did he die?"

"Judging by the situation, it should be poisoning." The physician said after thinking for a moment.

"He had no time to take poison." The head guard said with a frown: "We captured him as soon as we came in and kept watching him the whole time. You could say it was under everyone's watch—how could anyone possibly have poisoned him?"

"Then he must have taken the poison before that," the physician said after thinking: "and it took effect now."

"It might be suicide." At this moment, someone on the side spoke up.

Everyone turned their heads in astonishment, their faces full of surprise.

An old man walked out from the crowd. He was dressed in mourning clothes, and he clasped his hands toward those around him and said: "Perhaps it was because he missed the master too much, or perhaps he was too pent up inside."

The people around him rolled their eyes directly.

Such words could only fool idiots. Missed the master too much?

The master of your household was very likely killed by him—what the hell would he be missing?

This was clearly a reason meant to fool people. Who would believe it if it were said out loud?

Everyone stared at the old man.

The head guard asked with a trace of anger: "Who are you?"

"In answer to Your Excellency, this old man is Park Jeong-hwan, the steward of the Park household." The old man said neither humbly nor arrogantly.

The head guard was very angry and wanted very much to arrest this old man. Judging from the current situation, this old man very likely had problems—coming out at this time to talk about suicide.

But he didn't dare arrest him. He was afraid that after arresting him, this old man would also die, and then there would be real trouble.

Everyone's gaze fixed on this old man, wanting to see what he would say.

"Someone, watch him." The head guard said hurriedly: "No one is to move. I'll immediately find someone to report to Lord Zheng."

Having said that, he strode out.

A fast horse galloped off, and the news quickly reached the Joseon royal palace.

"What did you say?" Zheng Xuhong looked at the person before him in disbelief and asked: "You say Park In-yong is dead?"

"Yes, my lord." The subordinate said hastily, his eyes full of fear.

"How did he die?" Zheng Xuhong said with a grim face and a very ugly expression.

Something had gone wrong.

"The physician's examination concluded it was death by poisoning." The subordinate said with his head lowered, speaking cautiously: "But our men were watching him the whole time—didn't let him eat anything, didn't let him drink anything, and no one even approached him. We truly have no idea how he was poisoned. The physician said he might have taken the poison before that."

It was over.

Zheng Xuhong's vision went black, his body swayed slightly, and he nearly fell to the ground on his backside.

He had been tricked.

He had said this wouldn't be a good affair, but he had to step right into it. Now they had gotten a letter from Park In-yong, and this time yellow mud had fallen into the crotch of his pants—even if it wasn't shit, it was shit.

How to explain? How to explain this letter?

If this letter were exposed, the intent would be very clear: the king gave the order, Zhang Fu carried it out, Park In-yong was used, and afterward he was killed to silence him.

What was he going to do himself?

Of course, to clean up the aftermath and find evidence. This letter was the evidence, and now he had taken it back.

Park In-yong killed his uncle and then committed suicide out of guilt—on the surface, that was exactly what it looked like. But these days, who just looks at the surface?

Zheng Xuhong dared not delay. Ignoring what his subordinates thought, he turned and ran straight back, charging all the way into the royal palace.

He had to tell the king about this matter:

Big trouble was coming!